and a whole lot more…

Electronics company $BHE said it appointed Roop Lakkaraju as
EVP and CFO, to succeed Don Adam who will be retiring at year’s end. Most
recently, Lakkaraju served as CFO of software firm Maana. Earlier, he had held leadership
positions, including COO and CFO, in various private and public companies.

$AVGO made its final offer to acquire $QCOM and under the terms of the proposed agreement Qualcomm stockholders would receive an aggregate of $82 per each Qualcomm share, consisting of $60 in cash and the remainder in Broadcom shares. The new offer represents a 50% premium over the closing price of $QCOM stock on Nov. 2, 2017.

$AVGO narrowed its 1Q18 non-GAAP net revenue guidance to the range of $5,300-5,350MM from the earlier guidance of $5,225-5,375MM. Additionally, the company expects non-GAAP fully diluted EPS to be approx. $5.10 per share. For 2Q18, $AVGO expects non-GAAP net revenue in the range of $4,925-5,075MM.

$XLNX expects 4Q18 sales to be about $635-665MM and gross margin of 69-71%. The company sees operating expenses to increase to about $285MM, including one-time charge of $30MM primarily related to the CEO transition. $XLNX predicts other income of about $3MM and tax rate of about 0-5%.

$XLNX's revenues from Advanced Products for 3Q18 continued to be strong, increasing 30% from the same quarter a year ago and comprising 56% of company sales. This is supported by accelerated growth in the company's industry-leading 20nm and 16nm technology nodes, which inturn reflects very broad-based customer adoption.

$XLNX's BoD declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.35 per outstanding share of common stock. The dividend is payable on Feb. 22, 2018 to all stockholders of record at the close of business on Feb. 7, 2018.

$XLNX reported a 92% drop in 3Q18 earnings due to about $183MM in tax expenses resulting from the recent enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Net income fell to $12MM or $0.05 per share from $142MM or $0.52 per share last year. Revenue grew 8% to $631MM. Operating income increased 16% to $190MM.

$QCOM released a letter to its shareholders, ahead of the annual meeting which will be held on March 6, to not vote for the 11 executives nominated for election by $AVGO. The chip maker also highlighted the regulatory issues involved in $AVGO's hostile attempt to take over the company.

$AVGO said the US Federal Trade Commission has requested more information regarding its acquisition plan of $QCOM. The effect of the second request is to extend the 30-day waiting period imposed by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. After $AVGO complies with the request, the regulator has 30 days to complete its review.

$PLXS said it expects 2Q18 revenues to be in the range of
$670MM to $710MM. Excluding any potential effect of the tax reform, second quarter GAAP EPS is forecasted in the $0.68-$0.78
range, on gross margins of 4.3-4.7%. Cash outflows are estimated to be between
$30MM and $50MM. In fiscal 2018, free cash flow is anticipated to exceed $100MM.

$PLXS, a tech firm in the electronics industry, slipped into
the negative territory in 1Q18 reporting a loss of $2.93 per share, compared to
profit $0.82 per share a year earlier. The results were impacted by an expense related
to the US tax reform. On a non-GAAP basis, Plexus reported earnings of $0.75 per
share. Revenues advanced 7% to $677MM.

Tech firm $MRCY has received $2.5M order from a defense
contractor for storage appliances built with solid-state drive devices, for a military
application. The order, which has been booked in Mercury’s 2Q18 earnings, is
expected to be shipped over the next several quarters.

$MRCY received a $7.7MM follow-on order from a leading defense
prime contractor for BuiltSecure high-density secure memory devices integrated
into an airborne command, control and intelligence system. The order was booked
in 2Q18 and is expected to be shipped over the next several quarters.

$HSTM introduces Verity, its newly formed company that combines
its Echo and Morrisey businesses. Echo was formed as a combination of HealthLine
Systems and SyMed Development, and Morrisey Associates was acquired in 2016. The
company is launching its SaaS-based provider credentialing, privileging and
enrollment solution, also called Verity.

$LFUS and $IXYS announced the election deadline by which $IXYS stockholders of record may elect to receive cash, shares of $LFUS common stock or both as merger consideration in connection with the $LFUS acquisition of $IXYS. The election deadline is Jan. 12, 2018. The parties expect to close the transaction on Jan. 17, 2018.

$MRCY announced it received a $12MM order from a defense prime contractor for optimized radio frequency modules ready for integration into an advanced electronic warfare system. The order was booked in the company's 2Q18 and is expected to be shipped over the next several quarters.

As part of its Healthcare NExT initiative, $MSFT partnered with Seattle-based biotech firm Adaptive Biotechnologies. Microsoft and Adaptive will build a universal blood test that will screen a person's human immune system using the former's AI and machine learning technologies. Microsoft had invested an undisclosed amount for this partnership.